Use of antipsychotics, benzodiazepine derivatives, and dementia medication among older people with intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder and dementia

BACKGROUND: Although people with intellectual disability (ID) and people with dementia have high drug prescription rates, there is a lack of studies investigating drug use among those with concurrent diagnoses of ID and dementia.

AIM: To investigate the use of antipsychotics, benzodiazepine derivatives, and drugs recommended for dementia treatment (anticholinesterases [AChEIs] and memantine) among people with ID and dementia.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Having received support available for people with ID and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was used as a proxy for ID. The ID cohort consisted of 7936 individuals, aged at least 55 years in 2012, and the referent cohort of age- and sex-matched people from the general population... (More)

BACKGROUND: Although people with intellectual disability (ID) and people with dementia have high drug prescription rates, there is a lack of studies investigating drug use among those with concurrent diagnoses of ID and dementia.

AIM: To investigate the use of antipsychotics, benzodiazepine derivatives, and drugs recommended for dementia treatment (anticholinesterases [AChEIs] and memantine) among people with ID and dementia.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Having received support available for people with ID and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was used as a proxy for ID. The ID cohort consisted of 7936 individuals, aged at least 55 years in 2012, and the referent cohort of age- and sex-matched people from the general population (gPop). People with a specialists' diagnosis of dementia during 2002-2012 were identified (ID, n=180; gPop, n=67), and data on prescription of the investigated drugs during the period 2006-2012 were collected.

OUTCOME AND RESULTS: People with ID/ASD and dementia were more likely than people with ID/ASD but without dementia to be prescribed antipsychotics (50% vs 39% over the study period; odds ratio (OR) 1.85, 95% confidence interval 1.13-30.3) and benzodiazepine derivatives (55% vs 36%; OR 2.42, 1.48-3.98). They were also more likely than people with dementia from the general population to be prescribed antipsychotics (50% vs 25%; OR 3.18, 1.59-6.34), but less likely to be prescribed AChEIs (28% vs 45%; OR 0.32, 0.16-0.64).

@article{30a78fc5-b573-4e06-bc15-605597674254,
abstract = {<p>BACKGROUND: Although people with intellectual disability (ID) and people with dementia have high drug prescription rates, there is a lack of studies investigating drug use among those with concurrent diagnoses of ID and dementia.</p><p>AIM: To investigate the use of antipsychotics, benzodiazepine derivatives, and drugs recommended for dementia treatment (anticholinesterases [AChEIs] and memantine) among people with ID and dementia.</p><p>METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Having received support available for people with ID and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was used as a proxy for ID. The ID cohort consisted of 7936 individuals, aged at least 55 years in 2012, and the referent cohort of age- and sex-matched people from the general population (gPop). People with a specialists' diagnosis of dementia during 2002-2012 were identified (ID, n=180; gPop, n=67), and data on prescription of the investigated drugs during the period 2006-2012 were collected.</p><p>OUTCOME AND RESULTS: People with ID/ASD and dementia were more likely than people with ID/ASD but without dementia to be prescribed antipsychotics (50% vs 39% over the study period; odds ratio (OR) 1.85, 95% confidence interval 1.13-30.3) and benzodiazepine derivatives (55% vs 36%; OR 2.42, 1.48-3.98). They were also more likely than people with dementia from the general population to be prescribed antipsychotics (50% vs 25%; OR 3.18, 1.59-6.34), but less likely to be prescribed AChEIs (28% vs 45%; OR 0.32, 0.16-0.64).</p>},
author = {Axmon, Anna and Kristensson, Jimmie and Ahlström, Gerd and Midlöv, Patrik},
issn = {1873-3379},
language = {eng},
month = {01},
pages = {50--57},
publisher = {Elsevier},
series = {Research in Developmental Disabilities},
title = {Use of antipsychotics, benzodiazepine derivatives, and dementia medication among older people with intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder and dementia},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2017.01.001},
volume = {62},
year = {2017},
}